This 16,500 sf LEED-Gold complex at UC Santa Barbara is the result of a partnership between the university and NOAA.

The Ocean Science Education Building was built to serve as a center for collaborative research and for educating students of all ages interested in marine science; it represents a partnership between UCSB's Marine Science Institute and NOAA's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

Half of the building houses new sanctuary headquarters, home to adminstrators and staff of the marine sanctuary and researchers specializing in marine ecology. The other half is the state-of-the-art Outreach Center for Teaching Ocean Sciences (OCTOS), a facility for research, marine science education, and labs for teacher training. The ground floor houses a wet lab, including tanks and artificial habitats for sea-life observation.

The first level of each wing of the two-story structure has CMU shear walls supporting a post-tensioned concrete podium slab. The second story of each building is framed with wood. The two wings surround a covered central courtyard that features exterior walkways and bridges, as well as a thirty-foot-tall, concrete-framed kelp tank.